Signal transmission requirements have become higher because of the greater fidelity and sensitivity of currently available high fidelity audio system equipment. Good signal cables support fine dynamics, separation, and rich overtones, but most importantly, they must have a very high degree of balance. Since balance is the most essential factor of high fidelity acoustics, when full-range balance is poor various problems result.
For example, insufficient bass makes people feel that music is muted and diluted. Conversely, when bass is excessive, sound becomes too dense and even burdensome. Sound becomes cold when midrange is lacking and overly warm when too much is heard. At the same time, overall definition is decreased resulting in acoustic dispersion, sound alteration, and positional inaccuracy problems. Also, when treble projection is inadequate, music becomes depressive, monotonous, and spatially confined, while the reverse situation results in a presentation that is too bright and lively.
It is widely known that electric wires and cables utilize conductors for the transmission of signals. Typically, the cross-sectional area of conductors used in a wire or cable is chosen in view of the expected magnitude of transmission current. In a conventional audio signal cable, the cross-sectional area is based on three main considerations. The first is the amount of transmission current, the second is the tensile strength needed, and the third is the outer diameter required. After the conductor cross-sectional areas are calculated, other factors are considered to select the differing diameters of the conductors.
In conventionally used electric cables, the center conductor is typically a single conductor, and if the conductor is too narrow, electrical resistance increases. However, if the conductor is too large, then high frequency signal passage becomes difficult. Additionally, in conventional signal cables, skin effect is a challenging problem in that it commonly causes distortion and adversely affects signal transmission. A major problem with the presently known cables is that these cables utilize conductors which are not designed to effectively carry more than one type of signal frequency. For example, when such cables are used to simultaneously transmit at different bands of frequency (i.e., high, medium, and low frequencies), the problem of phase difference occurs.
There are currently known electric cables where the center conductor is in the form of multiple conductors. For example, stranded wire is a configuration of two or more circular round solid conductors, usually fairly small, of the same wire gauge, and uninsulated from each other, but commonly insulated by one piece of insulation. Stranded wire is more flexible than a single, thick strand of the same gauge. Stranded wire is commonly used for electrical applications carrying audio data signals.
While stranded wire is generally undesirable for high fidelity (Hi-Fi) sound reproduction, where maximum clarity, and lowest possible distortion is the goal, for guitar this is not quite the case. It is well known that most electric guitar players prefer a certain amount of distortion, and the distortion realized by using stranded wire does seem to have a pleasing sonic effect on electric instruments. In this case, absolute fidelity is not required, as demonstrated by the fact that most amplifiers are intentionally driven into distortion for the sonic effect. This is seen as being pleasing, desirable and beneficial. However, there are no presently known audio cables that provide the distortion effect and that are capable of simultaneously providing additional sound enhancements which are desirable for electric instruments.
Accordingly, there is a need for a for an audio signal cable that overcomes the problems of the prior art and which is capable of providing a balanced high, medium and low frequency response, as well as better sound definition.